The No. 19 Virginia Tech Hokies might have to eke out a victory over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to prevent themselves from sliding out of the Top 25 rankings. The Fighting Irish, on the other hand, wants to avoid losing their third game in a row. Check out our preview of this game below.
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Betting Preview for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs Virginia Tech Hokies NCAA College Basketball Game on January 10 2021
Where: Cassell Coliseum, Blacksburg, VA
When: Sunday, January 10, 2021, 6:00 PM ET
Line: Notre Dame Fighting Irish (odds) vs. Virginia Tech Hokies (odds) – view all 2021 NCAAB lines
TV Broadcast: ESPN
Betting on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (odds)
Record: 3-6 Overall / 0-3 Conference
The Fighting Irish are still hunting for their first win in conference play. In their third and most recent try, they fell to the North Carolina Tar Heels in heartbreaking fashion, losing by just a point, 66-65, on the road last week. But at least Notre Dame managed to cover the spread as a 7.5-point road underdog. It was also the second game in a row for the Fighting Irish seeing the total hit the under. As usual, Nate Laszewski led the charge for Notre Dame in the North Carolina game, as he scored 25 points on 9-of-14 shooting, while Prentiss Hubb chipped in 14 points. Dane Goodwin was the missing man for the Fighting Irish in that game, as he only scored six points. Dane is the team’s third-leading scorer this season, and he’ll look to get to his season average of 13.8 points per game this coming Sunday. Notre Dame is a good 3-point shooting team, as the Fighting Irish are making 38.9 percent of their shots from deep this season.
Notre Dame is 5-5 against the spread in its last 10 games away from home, dating back to January of last year.
Betting on the Virginia Tech Hokies (odds)
Record: 8-2 Overall / 2-1 Conference
The Hokies took a stumble last Wednesday. After winning four games in a row, Virginia Tech ran into a 73-71 road loss to the Louisville Cardinals. During that aforementioned unbeaten stretch, the Hokies defeated the likes of Clemson Tigers and Miami Hurricanes, the top two strongest Virginia Tech opponents in that span. The Hokies struggled a bit early on in the Cardinals game due to Louisville’s fast pace, but that should not be a problem for them against Notre Dame, which is ranked 304th in the nation in terms of adjusted tempo. Virginia likes to play slow as well, ranking just 290th in adjusted tempo, but it’s got a more efficient offense, stouter defense, and is a better rebounding team altogether than the Fighting Irish. Virginia Tech is averaging 75.1 points per game and allows only 65.1 per contest.
Virginia Tech is 4-1 against the spread in its last five games overall.
Writer’s Prediction
Virginia Tech wins, 74-64.
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